4th of July at the pool

LR loves the car pull toy Grandma W and Grandad B gave him during our recent visit. He pulls it around the house often with much enthusiasm... so much so that one of the wheels keeps popping off. It just needs a touch of wood glue, so I'm not worried about the toy lasting a very long time. Gigi, if you look carefully, he still chews on his lower right lip. :)

On the fourth we had some quality family time at the pool. This Sunday is our first swim lesson and we wanted to make sure he isn't afraid of a large body of water. He's not. He loved it. He would have loved it more if the water hadn't been quite so cold. He kept jumping in with me and then scrambling to get out. Then he'd run down the length of the pool, challenging Daddy to stay between him and the water. The last picture is one of the many times Daddy retrieved LR. Really looking forward to the swim lessons!

In house news, Daddy installed 2 new toilets on the 4th so that visiting family will no longer have to listen to a trickling tank or have to catch themselves as they sit on a short, unsteady toilet. Thank you, Daddy! Nothing says patriotism like toilets.

Brio-rama!

Daddy and LR have been having a fabulous time with the Brio set from Uncle D. Here's Daddy's latest creation. We're still working to get LR back on schedule. He's going to bed and getting up a little later than we'd like. Tonight he made it down by 8:45pm which is definitely an improvement. Daddy's going to wake him up in the morning if he tries to sleep in too much. (I can't believe I just typed that.)

Anyway, I haven't been able to blog much because I've been going to bed pretty much right after LR. Hopefully, we'll be back on track soon with more blog entries and more time to chill out after LR goes to sleep. And by chill out, I mean wash the dishes, do the laundry, clean up from dinner, etc. Luckily, LR is totally worth it. Sleep tight, kiddo.

Latest favorite movie: Finding Nemo
Favorite scene: what LR calls "speak whale" when Dori tries to communicate with a Whale in Sydney Harbor. We watched that short scene 6 times today.

Oh and he's starting to sing along when I sing to him. "Row, row, row your boat" and "You are my sunshine" are favorites.

Trip Out West

I was really trying to be good about blogging and then we made a trip to Denver this past weekend and it all went to hell. Oh well, the trip was worth it. Before the trip, however, last week we had our new nanny, Nanny C, start full days with LR. He really seems to like her and we're very happy with the new schedule. I have to get up too early, but it puts me at home with LR by 3:30pm every afternoon, so it's worth it.

Sat morning we took our time, packed up, planned our car, bus, train, and plane adventure and stepped out the door at 11:00am. We drove to a satellite lot at Logan and parked. LR kept asking for the "last tunnel" but since we'd already gone through the big dig tunnels, there were no more to be found. We boarded a bus to get to the airport and LR was very excited to both be on a bus and see all the planes. We had him in the stroller, so it all went pretty smoothly, even security. (They do make you take baby shoes off, just like SwingDaddy reported.)

The novelty of the planes wore off just in time for LR to pass out as the plane took off. Unfortunately, the captain came on over the intercom with about 45 minutes left and woke LR up. He was pretty groggy until we landed in Milwaukee. He took some time to run around while we were in the airport and then we boarded the second flight to Denver. We got bulkhead seats, so LR couldn't kick anyone in front of us. That was a great advantage. A gentleman next to us was kind enough to let us out whenever LR decided to run up and down the aisle. Daddy and I had prepared a bag of tricks which included favorite foods, new toys, and new books. His favorite new books are "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus," "Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear," and "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom." The pigeon one is his favorite though and we all read it to him multiple times over the long weekend. The big toy winner of the weekend was a wind up travel fishing game. LR was quiet for 10 minutes at a time focusing on catching a fish with his magnetic fishing pole. I'm still shocked we made it both ways without losing any of the tiny, plastic fish.

When we landed LR was wowed by the Denver airport (and their trains) and could scarcely be bothered to greet Grandma and Granddad H. He warmed up quickly to his playmates though and played lots of games of peek-a-boo with Grandad. LR loved all their cubby furniture, face-plant friendly couches, and giant ceramic frog. Just about everything makes him smile which, in turn, makes us smile. The grandparents were amazed by his verbal skills. He mimicked everything everyone said this weekend, but he's also somewhat of a trend setter. His favorite saying is still "no like" and by the end of the trip, we were all saying it.

The weather was extremely hot, so we spent most of the time indoors, but Sun. we did go play at a great new park they have nearby. LR went down the highest slides over and over on equipment made for 5-7 year olds. It made Daddy and I nervous, but he's tough to stop sometimes. We also hit a mall on Mon. with an awesome play area. I forgot to take the camera, but it was giant rubbery breakfast foods that they could jump, climb, and slide on. Very cool. We spent the rest of the weekend playing with the Brio train sets that Uncle D had when he was little that he's lending to LR. LR absolutely loves it. Thanks D! Oh, and I believe LR has absconded with my Ratatouille stuffed animal you bought for me, D. Something about the spoon appeals to him.

We left Tues and had a rough time on the way back. We weren't quite as organized and LR had already seen all the new toys and books. He slept the first flight again which was nice, but the second flight was all squirming and kicking the seat in front of him. We were absolutely exhausted by the time we got home and still haven't quite recovered. Really wish we could travel more since it was so wonderful to see family, but we're just going to have to wait until he's a little older. He's getting too strong for me if that's possible. That and he's really close to being two. I think my wagging finger is sprained.

Evening in the Park

The first picture is of LR enjoying a partially put together kitchen island. Thanks, Uncle Corbin! I just have to make one more trip to pick up the counter top. In the meantime, LR thinks of it as his own personal fort. The hat he's wearing was a gift from grandparents Y and C. You can't see in the picture, but it's a Cubs hat. In a town as rabid as Boston for its sports teams, the grandparents are sure trying hard to get him beat up. So far he has a Tampa Bay shirt and a Cubs hat. Want to throw a Chargers visor our way, SwingDaddy? Good thing we only have a few NY family members or we'd really be in trouble. (Go Sox!)

Monday evening Daddy came home early and we decided to take a picnic dinner to the park. The day had been in the high 80s, so it was a perfect temperature. LR was more than willing to go for a car ride, so it was easy enough to get over there. The park was deserted as, presumably, most people took their kids home for dinner. (Suckers!)

LR started in the sandbox with the big dump trucks and then moved on to the swings. We convinced him to come over to the picnic table for a quick bite of mac n' cheese and pickles before he went on to other equipment. He loves dill pickles, but he wouldn't chew them up and swallow. He would just bite off a hunk and keep it in his mouth while running around. It was driving me crazy thinking that he was going to choke on it as he climbed the rock wall and slid down the tunnel slide. That tunnel slide is just about the greatest slide ever, according to LR. He found it just as I was starting to think about heading home. It was too nice an evening to keep him from enjoying it completely though, so we waited until he tired of it. Then he found the path into the Fells Reservation at the edge of the park. He headed into the woods, mosquitos and all. He was convinced he heard water and kept trudging farther into the darkening woods looking for it, saying "water, water." We followed until we hit a family of gnats. Then I put LR on my shoulders and we tromped out of the woods and to the car. He didn't fuss about getting into the car and it was a pretty awesome evening overall. The last picture shows Daddy playing a game of chase with LR.

Weekend Grandparents Visit

This weekend we were lucky enough to have a visit from Grandparents Y and C and Uncle Corbin. The arrived with adorable Thomas the Train outfits for LR which he happily wore all weekend. He entertained them their first night by screaming from 2:30 to 4am. Not sure what his problem was, but because of the illness last week, I'm guessing it had something to do with him wanting to be in our bed instead of his. At least he slept through on Saturday night.

Saturday we spent much of the day playing outside and then had dinner at Jasper White's Summer Shack. When LR finished his dinner we all took turns walking him around the restaurant. He fixated on the lobster tanks in the center of the restaurant and it was all we could do to keep him from going for a swim with the lobsters. Uncle Corbin, however, encouraged it. :)

At home LR spent a lot of time playing with and climbing on his new train table provided by a gift certificate Y and C gave us to Pottery Barn. At first we tried to keep him from climbing up, but after 24 hours, we gave up. Now he can climb on it, but not stand on it. When he does stand on it, I usually give him the warning, "you can sit down, or get down." He smiles. I say it again. He dances around. I make a move to come over to him and he drops to his butt. Such a character.

Sunday night we convinced our friends D & H that he was fine on the table and hadn't yet fallen off. Moment later he tumbled off and I only half caught him as his forehead hit the floor. He cried for a minute and then fussed for a minute, but there was no major damage (to his head or the floor). It was another example of stunningly adept parenting.

Happy Belated Father's Day to all the dads out there. Special thanks to Daddy for being so amazing with LR. LR pretty much worships him already. You won't see a happier kid when he hears the garage door open in the evening.

Goodbye Nanny M

I've missed a bunch of major events in the last few days, so I'll try to catch up in the next few posts. Last Friday was Nanny M's last day. The whole family misses her already, but we know she's going on to great things. We are forever grateful to her for her dedication to and loving of LR. He has been extremely well taken care of and I'm just sorry we don't have more photos of their time together. Luckily, Daddy snapped a few pics on her last day.

Congrats on the new job and thanks for everything Nanny M!

Won't Anybody Help?

Last week I took LR to the grocery store. When we got to the prepared foods counter, I ordered a small container of mac n' cheese for him. While waiting for the man to fill the order, LR decided it was time to get out of the shopping cart disguised as a car, which he calls "car cart." He was strapped in, so was making very little progress. As he strained, he decided to announce that he needed help to get out of the cart by yelling, "help! Help! Help!" To the casual observer it looked like a scene out of the DSS handbook. I was a little embarrassed and the man behind the counter was terribly amused.

Floor Tantrums

Mark the calendar. Yesterday was the first time LR threw himself to the ground to express displeasure. None of the tantrums were major, but I'm sure he's just priming the engine. He did it twice for me during the day and once for Daddy last night when he wanted Daddy to take him outside. Speaking of Daddy, yesterday morning while LR and I played cars downstairs, Daddy got ready upstairs. When it was time for me to leave for work, I called out, "Derek! Are you coming down?" Daddy came down the stairs, LR looked at him and called out "Durk! Duuuurk!" I'll have to remind myself to just say "Daddy" from now on. He's getting much better with names though. He can now say his own name, but it comes out very much broken into 2 parts: Hud-san.

LR finally seemed to be mostly recovered from his illness yesterday although he's still napping a lot and he did throw up his dinner of zucchini, rice, and beans. Not sure what it was, but I'm glad it's almost over. He slept through Tues night, but didn't make it through last night. I think he's gotten used to sleeping in our bed again. *sigh*

LR has a favorite new expression, "no like." He uses it when I pick a book he'd rather not hear for the thousandth time. "No like." He uses it when he's finished with his dinner and pushes his plate away even though he ate all but 10% of it. "No like." He uses it when I walk in the direction opposite the way he wants to walk. "No like!" It's expressive, but annoying. Just right for a burgeoning two year old, I guess.

Tummy Hurts

LR woke up with a fever on Saturday morning. Because it was low grade and he was playing happily, we decided to try a run to Ikea. It was a little overwhelming to all of us and he fell asleep on the way home. When he woke up, his fever went up to close to 103 and he spent the rest of the day resting on me on the couch while watching A Bug's Life. (He loves the scenes with the bird.) Saturday night was a rough one. Very little sleep and lots of attempts to get the right medication into him. The problem is that he'll take Motrin, but it doesn't break a fever as well as Tylenol. Unfortunately, the Tylenol is gross and once I start giving him that, he'll reject the Motrin too. I picked up 3 version of Children's Tylenol, grape, strawberry, and meltaways, on Sunday hoping that he would like one of them. No dice. Every time I made him take it, he dissolved into tears and hiccups.

We're were supposed to host my book club's BBQ on Sunday, but I canceled it to keep the other kids from picking up whatever LR has. It was by far the nicest day of the summer so far and it was a shame we had to spend it inside. In the afternoon Daddy and LR decided to nap in our bed and LR woke up screaming. He was inconsolable. He was stiff as a board in my arms and clenched his fists and raised them to his head. When he calmed a little, I asked him if something hurt. He said, "hurt, hurt, tummy hurt, tummy hurt" and then cranked up the volume on his wailing again. It's the very first time he's been able to tell me what's bothering him and I felt completely helpless. I didn't know what to do that might help. He hadn't eaten much for the past 2 days, so it could have been hunger, or maybe gas, or upset because of the Tylenol. He drank a little water when he calmed down and the episode passed. Unfortunately, it wasn't the last one. He woke up at 11:30pm last night with the same thing and we were just considering taking him down the street to the hospital when he calmed down and fell back asleep.

During the night his fever broke and he slept much more peacefully. The fever spiked again this morning, but I'm hoping we're on the tail end of whatever this is.

Su-sha

About a month ago we exposed LR to sushi. We're not big fans of sashimi, but we like vegetarian maki. When he expressed interest in my dinner, like he always does, I unwrapped the seaweed from an avocado roll and gave it to him. He popped the whole thing in his mouth, chewed, swallowed and asked for more. I ended up splitting my dinner with him that night. He called it "su-sha."

Since then his sushi appetite has ramped up. He asks for it on site when we're at the grocery store. At Whole Foods they have a giant plastic sushi roll hanging above the sushi station, so he knows when it's coming. It's not really grocery store finger food, so I try to restrict him to crackers and grapes when we're in the aisles (despite mighty protests). In the past month, his pronunciation has improved. It's now "su-shi" and he eats 8-10 pieces on his own in a sitting. I stopped unwrapping the seaweed and started cutting them in half. He doesn't seem to have a problem with the seaweed as long as it's in small pieces.

I love that he's a good eater, but did he have to have such expensive tastes?

This week we went with friends to StellaBella, a great toy store in Cambridge. I could have spent hundreds of dollars, but I ended up with an adorable wooden sushi set. (I think my sister-in-law Lady M mentioned the same set in a blog post a while back.) LR loves playing with it so far. He uses the wooden knife to cut the velcroed sushi rolls apart and practices dipping the pieces into soy sauce using the chopsticks. It's really adorable. We spent the last play time this evening playing a family game of "sushi." I should contact Milton Bradley...

Have? Have.

LR's favorite new word is "have." He uses it both as a question "have?" meaning "may I have this object that you have but I dearly want," and "have," a command, telling Daddy or I "you shall have this thing this very moment." The first is the equivalent of "gimme," but much nicer. For example, in the picture I'm pretty sure he said "have" as he reached for the camera. The latter he uses when I ask him to share something. Usually his playmate doesn't know why she is receiving such a gift, but she doesn't often complain.

LR is just getting the hang of saying his name. It's usually in the context of "Hudson's turn," which comes out as "Hudnes tourn" or "Huds tourn." (It's not usually mommy's turn.)

A few pics

watching the cougars with Mommy









walking with Daddy at the zoo












sharing a bowl of raisins with King J

Bikes Rides and Other Fun

LR's obsession with rides is no longer limited to cars. On Saturday morning we took our first family bike ride. Daddy and I bought a Burley D'Lite trailer and hooked it to my bike. I was worried about 3 things before the ride.

1. would he keep the helmet on
2. would he enjoy the ride
3. would I be able to hear him
   

When we got to our drop site, he definitely wasn't thrilled about the helmet, but once he got into the trailer, he seemed to forget about it. For the first 10 minutes of the ride I could hear him in the trailer saying "Woah! Woah!" He really enjoyed it. We biked part of the way around a pond and then decided we needed to get home for a play date. When we got back to the car he was not happy that we had stopped. He kept saying "bike again, bike again." I'm thrilled that he enjoyed it and I was even happier to be back on the bike again. Since Saturday we've been out 2 other times. Once he and I went to a park by ourselves and then last night we all went for a quick evening ride before bed. The only trouble we ran into was that he didn't want to leave the park and I ended up with a sobbing child in the trailer for the first 5 minutes on the way home.

When we got home on Saturday morning, our friends came over with their daughter V. V and LR really enjoy playing together. It's the first time I've seen him engage in interactive play instead of side-by-side play. They chased each other around and giggled when the other one did something especially funny, like fall down. They have very similar personalities, so they're neat to watch. We headed out to the zoo and spent a very warm morning checking out the flamingos, cougars, and monkeys. Luckily it's a small zoo, so in 45 minutes we saw just about everything. After the zoo we had a BBQ with them and spent the rest of the day relaxing. Apparently LR made a big impression on V. Her mom reports that she woke up the next day asking for him.

LR is starting to put together lots of words. We've jumped from 2 words to 3 or 4 and sometimes more. He's feeding me words for songs if I "forget" them. This morning he was pushing his old bouncy swing and saying "one money, two show, ready set go!" It was a funny combination of what I say when I push him on a swing and what Aunt J taught him to do when racing.

His latest favorite game with Daddy is chase, but LR has certain rules that he likes to enforce.

• Daddy has to be pushing the stroller, the push car, or the dump truck while LR pushes something else of his choice.
  
• Daddy has to have both hands on the vehicle.
  
• Daddy can only stop when LR gets tired.
  

The best thing about the game is that LR has learned the concept of turns. When Daddy gets tired, he'll announce "mommy turn!" After I run the loop with him, he'll say, "daddy turn!" (He really prefers Daddy for this particular game.) He's even started to apply it to other things. When we tag teamed a diaper change last night after the bath, LR turned to me to pick him up and said "mommy turn."

I promise to get new pictures up soon. Our camera battery ran out, so I'm a little behind.

Wanna Go For A Ride?

I always associated the question "wanna go for a ride?" with dogs. Now I use it for LR. He gets really excited when I ask him if he wants to go for a ride in the car. For the first time he actively participates in getting into his car seat and buckling up. No more strong arming him into the car then into his seat. As soon as we pull out of the driveway and onto the road he announces, "fast!" Not sure if he's saying I drive too fast or not fast enough. Yesterday he was so intent on going for a ride that we ran an errand that wasn't particularly urgent. When we returned to the garage, he gave me his best sad face and asked "again?" I told him that we'd go for another ride tomorrow.

Grandma Nese sent a cute package of Cars (the movie) books last weekend. LR really loves them and we've read them many times already. I was especially interested in the book titled "Doc Hudson." (The others are "Sally," "Lightening McQueen," and "Mater.") He can say so many words now, but almost refuses to say his name. He refers to himself as "baby." Every once in awhile he might say "Hun," but it's still a ways from sounding like his name. I figured the book would offer a good teaching point. So after 5 days of reading the books to him he refers to them as "blue car," "red car," "tow truck," and "Doc." Oh well. Thanks for the books, Nese!

Last thing I keep forgetting to write about. Rocks. He carries them everywhere. I rarely get them away from him when we come in from outside and the result is that we have one on our bathroom sink, one in the living room, two next to the kitchen sink, and one on the floor in his room. Every time I come home I find new rocks in the house. When he's not looking, I toss them out the door. I'm pretty sure he's disassembling our decorative rock wall on the patio rock by rock.

Crash!

LR's friend R was born just a few days before LR. His mom and I took prenatal yoga together and we've had play dates since. They are similar in size, but have really diverged in personality in the last year. LR, despite being a child cared for by nannies, is on the aggressive side. (I only say that since that government study came out recently that says kids who were in daycare for multiple years are slightly more aggressive. Turns out they are .2 percent more aggressive than their non-daycare counterparts. Apparently they media took the study and ran with it, implying there was a great difference in aggression based on their early childhood care.)

LR always wants whatever toy other kids have. He chased R around because he had his new Thomas the Train toy. He tried to get it 2 dozen times before R finally took his eyes off the prize. Then LR played with it for a minute and dropped it again. LR and R spent a fair amount of time just running around the house. There's a lot of open space since we're not really unpacked yet. At one point LR announced "crash!" and ran chest first into R, knocking them both over. R's mom and I were both surprised. Since neither of them was hurt, it was pretty funny.

Yesterday LR did the same thing to me while I was crouched down cleaning something off the floor. I heard "crash!" and then felt him thump into my back. It really made me laugh. Thank goodness the rain has finally ended and we can go outside. Apparently someone has a lot of unused energy!

Meal Success

Sometimes I get into an absolute rut when it comes to cooking for LR. After the move it was convenient that he wanted corn dogs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but that phase seems to be over for the most part. So, now I'm trying to make good meals again. The other night I threw together some beans and brown rice with an onion I had handy. He loved it! Maybe it's just that he was hungry, but I was shocked by how much he ate. He also asked for corn as a side dish and then had 2 large helpings of it. He ate it again for lunch the next day. I feel particularly lucky that he's not fussy when it comes to food. He's now drinking out of a cup without a sippy top on it. But with each step forward... when he's done drinking what he wants, he dumps the rest on the table. *sigh* I only give him a bit to drink at a time and at least that minimizes the cleanup.

Toothpaste! Is it good that he asks for toothpaste first thing in the morning? I have to put (training) toothpaste on his toothbrush at least 3 times before he's satisfied. Guess it's really tasty. I also found a cool, cool, cool toothbrush that is translucent yellow, but flashes red for 60 seconds so that kids know how long to brush their teeth. LR carried it around for the first couple days and loves using it regularly. What a great invention!

NYC

Spent Mother's Day in Brooklyn visiting Gigi and feeding her treats. LR got a real kick out of force feeding Gigi some of the wonderful food Uncle Corbin prepared. She also brought him a book of Thomas The Train, whom he affectionately calls "Tom."

It was also his last opportunity to see Uncle Keeper and Aunt J before they go off to Arizona for the next 4 years. I'm already looking forward to visiting them. He also got a chance to view the city from our hotel room near LaGuardia. We were amazed that we didn't hear any of the planes since they flew directly over the hotel. We inspected the windows since we'll need ones like it to block out the noise from the busy road we live on now. Not that it bothers LR. He actually prefers to sleep in our room right now which is the noisiest room in the house. Don't know why he's having trouble going to sleep in his crib these days, but we're hoping it passes quickly.

Otherwise things are well. We spend most of our days outdoors. He loves the yard and has found things like the hose to play with. I was nervous the first time I saw him play with the loops, but it hasn't proved to be dangerous, so I just watch him carefully when he heads over to it. In the picture he's wearing a T-shirt our friends brought him from Orlando; it says "Thing 1" on it. It's perfect for him. He also still loves to push and ride in his wagon. The slide is not as interesting anymore which is making me second guess buying a little jungle gym for him. Not sure what sort of outdoor equipment he'd enjoy most. Probably one of those inflatable castles so he can bounce himself silly. The cars and trucks going by the house are a constant source of entertainment, but it's nothing compared to trains. It's either the Brio set, Thomas the Train episodes, or the full length of The Polar Express. He now takes the DVD out of the player and brings it to me when he wants to watch it. (He does it even knowing he's not supposed to touch the DVD player. I admire his dedication.) There are a few scary parts, but he loves it. I'm pretty tired of it, but that doesn't seem to matter at this point.

LR is in desperate need of a haircut. I think we're making a family trip this weekend. He's showing some serious bedhead in this last picture. (In all honesty, I did it to him on purpose while trying to wake him up from a particularly long nap. I kept running my fingers through his hair, combing it straight up until he finally woke up.) He's reading his new Thomas book in the photo.

Happy Belated Mother's Day Everyone!

Attack Turkeys

The other day I was standing in the backyard at one corner of the house and LR was standing at the other corner. He was exploring all the nooks and crannies in the yard... mostly the nooks with the most dirt. I heard the sound of something crawling through the brush in the woods behind the house. Our neighbors have seen deer, coyotes, and foxes, so I peeked over the fence just in time to see a large bodied animal slip under a bush as it headed toward us. It was only 20 yards away or so, so I sprinted for LR, scooped him up, ran the length of the house, into the garage, and through the door. LR was unsure what the rush was, but he didn't complain as we bounded up the stairs and into the guest room. I looked out the window and saw a large wild turkey wandering around behind the fence. I told LR that the turkey looked fierce, but I don't think he believed me.

In other animal news, LR chased a bunny out of our yard and giggles whenever the birds decide to hang out on the grass. He can really get up some speed now, although he looks like a marionette when he runs - high knees and swinging arms. He's much tougher to catch though. The animals and I are going to have to start taking him much more seriously.

Catch Up

First week in the house was a wet one. LR blessed the house with mud. If you look carefully in the first picture, you'll see his handiwork on the white corner of the house. It was just like finger painting, but more fun!

He loves running up and down the bulkhead doors to the basement. Initially he thought it was a slide, so he would walk up one side and sit and drag himself down the other. We went through a number of pairs of pants before he figured out the coefficient of friction was too high. Bummer. So I bought him a little slide for outside and he uses it to send cars, trains, and rocks sailing. Daddy is very proud.

I also bought him a stroller since he was scratching up the hardwood floor pushing around his real one. He loves the little blue one, but not the baby I bought to go with it. He slings the baby around by the collar of his shirt and dumps him unceremoniously anywhere. Sometimes he'll push him in the stroller, but not often.

Again, sorry for the delay in posts. We went through another stomach bug (which nobody wants to hear about) and a jury duty day for me. I'm also back to part time after 3 weeks full time and I couldn't be more thrilled. The weather is warming up and I can't wait to spend the afternoons playing outside.

Fear and Humor

Still don't have new photos of him, so here are some old ones from the time before I started this blog.

LR is starting to show signs of both fear and a sense of humor. Whenever we get close to the introduction of Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story, LR begins to whimper. When Buzz appears, the camera pans from his feet to his head and the music swells. LR hates it and wants me to fast forward through it every time.

The other day we were watching an episode of Kipper the Dog and a little bird was jumping around on the ground in front of Kipper. LR laughed and made me rewind it a couple of times before he'd let me move on. It's very cool to start getting insight into what he thinks is funny (and scary).

LR is still all about the corn dogs. I ran out last night so now he's trying to go a whole day sans fried tofu. Gigi arrived this morning and Daddy took the day off, so I expect they'll be able to handle him. Daddy reported that he recognized Gigi which is always a good way to start a visit.

We Made It

We're in our new home! Poor LR was sick from the Thur before the move until the Thur after. He didn't love his new room and was very clingy since he was sick, but Grandma Nese helped out and he was well taken care of the whole time. The day after the move, Daddy came down with the same rotavirus that LR had. That left Nese and I to try to unpack and tend to the wounded. Needless to say, we're still pretty much in boxes except for the kitchen. Grandad B showed up right after the move and helped install a water filter, baby gates at the top and bottom of the stairs, and a gas line for the dryer. Don't know what we would've done without the two of them. (Dad, I ordered the icemaker kit. Coming back any time soon? *grin*)

LR is slowly getting used to his surroundings. He's constantly at the doors asking to go "shy-shy" which is "outside" or "cars" so that he can go sit in the car and press all the buttons on the dashboard. The hazard lights button is his favorite. After pressing it, he gets out of the car to inspect the lights on the bumper as they blink. Once outside, he runs to the gates in the fence and demands "shy-shy" again. I try to convince him that he's already outside, but he is rarely pacified. As far as he's concerned, any containment is bad. Unfortunately, when I let him through the gate, he makes a dash for the road and the kid is getting fast! We're just getting used to living on a very busy road. That's the only part I don't love about the house, but I'll get used to it.

We found out that we're surrounded by female babysitters. We have 16 and 14 year old teens on one side, a 13 and 11 year old across, and an 8 year old on the other side. We have at least the next 10 years covered! LR loves to go next door where they have a jungle gym. I'm hoping to get him a sandbox soon so that he won't mind staying in the yard.

LR's latest obsession: corn dogs. He wakes up and asks for a corn dog. He's had them for breakfast the past 4 days. It's a veggie corn dog, so it's not as bad as it sounds. He asks for them throughout the day. I try to keep him to 2 a day, max. We've made it through at least 4 boxes of them since we moved. It's also one of his first 2 word phrases. He can say "corn bread," "corn dog," and "tow truck." Oh, and while the grandparents were here, he named Grandad B "Papa."

Sorry for the lack of pictures. The office isn't set up yet, so blogging with photos will be a little tough until then.

Moving Tomorrow

Sorry the posts have been few and far between. We're moving tomorrow and LR has had the rotavirus for the past 2 days. Poor kid threw up 9 times yesterday. Luckily Grandma Nese showed up yesterday and has been wonderful with the sickie. Hoping the move goes smoothly and that LR isn't too traumatized on top of being sick.

Jump, Jump, Jump!

We had a great weekend! Daddy's brothers and sister-in-law came to visit and to help us paint the new house. Daddy worked them like mules during the day, but in the evenings, they came home to play with LR. LR just couldn't get enough attention. Aunt J made up a new game where she would say "ready" and crouch down. LR mimicked her movements. "Set," and they'd lean forward in anticipation. "Go!" and they were off and running. (As if LR needed incentive to run around the house chasing someone) Everyone took turns running with him last night while I was on the phone with Grandma W. I heard the screaming and giggling and then it all stopped as I hung up the phone. LR had thrown up from the exertion, but he didn't seem to mind. It only slowed him down because I had to change his PJs.

To make things livelier this weekend he started jumping off of things: boxes in the house, a large rock at the new house, and the couch. This evening he discovered he could climb up on the back of the couch. He'd say "down" or "jump" and that was Daddy's cue to get ready. Then LR would tumble down, sometimes somersaulting and sometimes just face planting. I really don't know where he gets it from. The look of pure joy on his face just before he jumps is worrisome to say the least.

Help!

LR has learned the word "help!" He uses it when he wants me to do something that he can't do. While in Babies R Us today, LR found a truck which required pushing down the hood to get the wheels to turn and a sound to play. The hood was tricky to push and if he didn't hit it right in the center, it wouldn't play. He would try a few times and then say "help, help!" It seemed like a new level of communication for us, which I definitely appreciated more than he did. He still drags us around by the finger, but I can see that conversations about Plato and Aristotle are just around the corner.

His latest obsession is the car. He can sit in the car for as long as I'll let him now, but he has to be free to roam. He especially likes sitting in the front two seats so that he can play with all the buttons and pretend to drive the car. God forbid I should try to put him in his car seat. Often he stands at the gate in the house and asks for "shy-shy" which means "outside." Then he'll ask, "car?" It's been so cold this week that I haven't wanted to take him out. I'm crossing my fingers for better weather so that we can return to our car/jungle-gym.

Picture Post

Trying on Mommy's shoes

Getting the hang of walking in big shoes.

Walking to the park with Daddy. (Check out the hat! He'll wear this one for a whole outing. No yanking it off or anything.)

Helping Mommy pack

Coming after the camera.

Climbing / dancing on Daddy

More dancing

Dancing turns to wrestling. Everyone wins!